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Mon, November 19 2018

Mon, November 19 2018

Five Things You Need To Know When Doing Bicycle-Business in Europe

Ok, you have decided to move your bicycle-business to Europe! Great! But as you also may have found out: Europe is not the same as China. This might be taken for granted but mistakes are easily made, while they are avoidable. With the right knowledge you can come a long way. In this blog article Bicle will give you five short tips to get started!

Several member-states in one European Union

The European Union has a central government based in Brussels, and sometimes functions as one country. For example, there is a currency -the Euro-, and there are European laws and regulations. But foremost, Europe is a conglomeration of member states. At the moment, the European Union counts 28 member states, although the UK is not really playing along anymore. Each has its own government, constitution, laws and regulations.

Europe and its many cultures

Because Europe exists of different member states, it makes sense that each separate country has a different culture. That may be due to the weather, but it’s more likely to be because of language and religion. It could even be said that this has resulted in different buyer personas. For instance: northern European countries tend to be more competitive and southern European countries tend to be more humanistic.

Don’t copy paste

What works in the Asian bicycle market may not work in the European bicycle market. That also counts for your brand identity. Tailor your brand to the European bicycle market. This is super important to do. And although we all like shiny things, Europeans have a different set of cultural references than Asians. Sometimes they overlap, but normally not.

Know the market

Also, because each member state has its own domestic market, you should know in which country it is most likely to succeed with your product. Some countries are not happy with bike sharing programs. Some may be completely into e-bikes, whereas others may stick more to the conventional bicycles. Make sure you know what country prefers what products.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

What you should know is that each member state is entitled to raise their own taxes. And although there is a European tax, all member states work with different tax rates. Also, value added taxes differ per member state. So, make sure you know how taxes in Europe work, before you put all your investments into taxes.

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These are just five tips we give you, but there is much more to understand when doing business in Europe and China.